Wrinkle in Time (Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet), A

Madeleine L'Engle

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger."Wild nights are my glory," the unearthly stranger told them. "I just got caught in a downdraft and blown off course. Let me sit down for a moment, and then I'll be on my way. Speaking of ways, by the way, there is such a thing as a tesseract."A tesseract (in case the reader doesn't know) is a wrinkle in time. To tell more would rob the reader of the enjoyment of Miss L'Engle's unusual book. A Wrinkle in Time, winner of the Newbery Medal in 1963, is the story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe (athlete, student, and one of the most popular boys in high school). They are in search of Meg's father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government on the tesseract problem. A Wrinkle in Time is the winner of the 1963 Newbery Medal.

Reviews

I love how simple and direct this story is. I remember reading it long ago and not understanding it. But when I watched the older movie, I realized that was because I was too much like Meg and had to learn a lot of what she learns on my own first. I have loved that old movie for years and just now got around to re-reading the book.

Reflection: It must seem odd to some that I had never read this book as a child, but here we are. Books written for children with love as their central theme are dime-a-dozen, but this one still managed to tear at my adult mind. I felt close to and understood the perspectives of each of the three main child characters. They each did well to show feelings from different sides of a problem and I love them for it. Though the story’s focus is on the children and their battles, they were not the most prominent character in my thoughts while I was reading. What stood out so clearly, so starkly against the contrast of childhood, was the mother’s pain. Had I read this as a kid, or even though a kid lens, I probably would not have been so keenly aware of her. She is strong and stoic and crumbling from the inside out. While her focus in on her work and children, a part of her is completely missing, gone to where? She surely doesn’t know, but the neighbors talk. I super recommend this book, though there are some rather flat characters, it is the complete personhood of so many that makes me want to finish the series.

Meg Murry is not comfortable in her skin. She wants to fit in at school but with rumors going around that her father abandoned her family, Meg is having a hard time. She lives at home with her ten-year-old twin brothers, Sandy and Dennys, her five-year-old brother Charles Wallace and their mother, who is a scientist, like her father. Meg knows that their father didn’t abandon them but she misses him dearly. With the help of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, Mrs. Which, Calvin O’Keefe (a fourteen-year-old who goes to school with Meg) and her brother Charles Wallace, they will adventure through space to another planet to rescue her father.
I had a hard time getting into this story. I forget that children’s novels just jump right into stories and that can be a little confusing when we are so used to the build up in fantasy’s. So I’m not ashamed to say that I was confused at first. I had no idea where the story was going. I didn’t grow up reading this book. In fact I only just heard about it about two years ago, when my sister-in-law was telling me about it. Meg is a very likable character, much like the other characters. But most of the characters seem to be pretty much the same. Maybe it is suppose to be that way for children’s books but I didn’t like it all that much. Charles Wallace was the most surprising character because he’s introduced as a five-year-old, yet he talks like he’s in his 30’s so it was very hard for me to picture him in my mind. The characters of Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who and Mrs. Which were so odd and weird but I like there names so I was very interested in them. They help Meg travel during her adventure by wrinkling time through the tesseract which is the fifth dimension and it helps them travel faster rather than going in a straight line. I know it probably sounds crazy and weird and that’s because it is!
While the story is enjoyable, I’m not sure that I would continue to read the series. I will however plan to see the new movie that is out but I don’t have high expectations.

I remember that I read this book with I was in the 5th grade eons ago. When I found myself rereading it, I discovered I had forgotten most (if not all) of the plot and only remembered that the cover had a bad-ass looking winged-centaur looking creature. Rereading it made me wish that I had remember more of the book because the overall messages is lovely and truly important:

- Being different is OK.

- Find love in your own faults.

- And the most famous one, LOVE conquers all!

I may fit the rest of the quintet of this series into my reading schedule, when time allows.

This book was read in preparation for the first meeting of Books & Brews club.

After reading A Wrinkle in Time it is obvious why this book won the Newbery Medal. This story is not only exciting and entertaining, it also teaches young readers good lessons. This story follows 3 young people, Meg Murry her brother Charles and her friend Calvin through time and space as they go and rescue Meg’s father who is also a scientist. This story teaches readers about individuality through the main character Meg Murry who is not the “typical” girl character we are used to reading about. This story teaches readers about the characteristics of friendship and courage. The science fiction genre also helps readers open their mind and imagination to new ideas.

As a future Elementary teacher I thought about what age group would work best with this novel. I think this science fiction novel is perfect for students who are in fifth grade getting ready to transition into middle school or for students who are already in middle school. In my classroom I would use this story in different ways. This novel can first be used to learn about characters and how characters are developed throughout a novel. This story can also be used to learn about setting. You can compare the setting of the real world and the “wrinkle” in time and space and you can also compare the setting in a science fiction text with the world today. I also think this book is a good coming of age story that teaches individuality and being different which is important for students to learn and understand.